Perspectives & Tips on Planning & Productivity

Tag Archives: to-do

Summer is typically associated with vacationing and enjoying relaxing free time for yourself and family. While this holds true to a point, this is also a season that presents multiple ongoing tasks, such as yard and garden work, home maintenance and improvement, and attending events ranging from youth sports to family reunions.

And with back-to-school season upon us, it’s noticeably obvious that you have a lot of things to do! But do you know where to start?

Below are the steps to making a powerful list that will offer you confidence that you are doing what you need to be doing, when you need to be doing it. Continue reading →

Everyone wants to get a little more done each day. The truth is that you will achieve more once you discover a secret to more productivity—and it comes from preparing a better to-do list.

The to-do list is the simplest, most basic element of any planning system. Everyone makes lists at one time or another, whether it’s for the grocery store, school assignments or a wish list for Santa.

As you integrate planning into your lifestyle, you must embrace the daily to-do list. When used in combination with a weekly or monthly schedule, the daily to-do or task list forms the backbone of your personal planning system. Continue reading →

It’s the pot of gold at the end of the time management rainbow: Success. We seek this state of being where we feel in control of our lives, accomplishing our goals and dreams and living in a harmonious balance of work and home. Time management is the means to this end.

In its simplest meaning, time management concentrates our efforts toward the most positive outcome. It puts life in focus, by the minute, by the day, by the month and by the year.

For this reason your day planner becomes more than just a task list and a calendar—it becomes a tool for time management success. Continue reading →

Note-taking plays an important role in everyone’s life, no matter age, profession or background. Think about it: We take notes during meetings, when we’re on the telephone, while we’re out-and-about, in a classroom or professional development setting…the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, as a result of these many note-taking opportunities, there are plenty of actual jottings and scribbling that are distributed among notebooks, planners, Post-it® notes and loose sheets of paper. This is all the more reason to make sure your note-taking techniques are effective and efficient.

Just like other facets of planning and organizing, there is no one-size-fits-all method to note-taking. However, there are many similar components that are common among methods which have stood the test of time and lead to higher productivity. Continue reading →

As the New Year gets underway, a lot of resolutions are made. According to research compiled for our infographic released in December, many of these resolutions are focused on slimming down. Waistlines aside, that’s exactly what we’re recommending you do: Slim down your task list!

Your task list is at the core of productivity and efficiency, and when it’s too large or over-burdening, your ability to plan and organize goes down the tubes. So, for this New Year, we recommend that you take the following steps to slim down and purge items on that task list in order to make it more manageable: Continue reading →

It’s the beginning of another busy day. There’s a lot to get done and many decisions to be made with little time for either. Quite frankly, your list of tasks is becoming downright intimidating. Where do you even start?

I say approach it like a game show. Whether it’s “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” or “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” a question-and-answer format game usually starts small and works its way up. In other words, they start with a few “softball” questions that grow more difficult as the game progresses. This same process can be used to attack your to-do list.

When you start off with a softball task, you ensure yourself of knocking your first task of the day out of the park. Limited to 30 minutes or less, some examples of softball tasks could be cleaning your desk or office area, updating your calendar and planner for the day, returning phone calls or emails, and wrapping a gift or two (The holiday spirit got me on that one!).

These are all easily addressed tasks that, when accomplished right off the bat, will provide you with a feeling of achievement and give you the confidence you need to complete any task on your list. It’s important to start the day on the right foot. Being able to cross out an item on your checklist first thing gets the wheels in motion and provides motivation to attack that ever-growing to-do list.

You have to start somewhere before you can rack up daily accomplishments. A softball task is a perfect way to do it, paving the way for you to play “hardball” the rest of the day. So, what are you waiting for? Play Ball!